President Lepre Again Named to Higher Education Power List

SALISBURY, MD---For the second year, the Baltimore-based Daily Record and BridgeTower Media have announced SU President Carolyn Ringer Lepre as one of the members of its Higher Education Power List.

Selected by the newspaper’s editorial team, with input from readers, the list celebrates the state’s most influential college and university presidents, policy makers and other senior administrators for their oversight of “some of the finest institutions of higher education in the nation,” according to the publication.

“I am truly honored to be recognized by The Daily Record as one of the top higher education influencers in the state, alongside many of my colleagues from the University System of Maryland,” said Lepre. “Salisbury University plays a vital role as a community and economic leader on the Eastern Shore, and I’m thrilled that our impact is being felt and recognized throughout Maryland, as well.”

Since becoming SU’s 10th president in 2022, Lepre has enhanced the Eastern Shore campus in many ways. Under her leadership, SU has established a formalized graduate school; added new academic programs in high-impact areas, including a B.S. in engineering physics and M.A. in public communication; and signed partnership agreements with agencies including NASA and the Maryland Army National Guard to enhance learning and career opportunities for students.

She also has worked to expand the University’s study abroad opportunities, including new SU Global Campus programs in Scotland and Spain. Other new initiatives have included partnering with the Association of College and University Educators to improve student access through inclusive teaching practices; establishing a First Gen Sea Gull Scholars Program to enhance the recruitment, retention and graduation of first-generation students and help them thrive on campus; and a program to enhance understanding and implementation of strategies to assist students in successfully transitioning off academic probation.

Emphasizing diversity and inclusion as a priority, Lepre expanded SU’s President’s Cabinet to include SU’s inaugural vice president of inclusion, access and belonging. She also centralized funds to provide ASL interpreters at more campus events. Building on SU’s legacy of environmental excellence, she prioritized funds to create a student-driven campus thrift shop, diverting usable items that otherwise may have gone to landfills; and procured a state investment that will help turn the campus’ 1957 former library building into one of the University System of Maryland’s first net-zero buildings as a student service center.

Lepre’s influence also has extended to SU Athletics, where she hired the University’s first female director of athletics and campus recreation, and reinstated golf (both men’s and women’s) as a varsity sport for the first time since the 1980s. Likewise, she hired the University’s first marching band director in more than 40 years, with the expectation of reinstating that program in time for the start of the SU Centennial Celebration in fall 2025.

This has all been done through the framework of the “Salisbury Seven,” a seven-point blueprint for SU’s future success established by the President in 2023 with a focus on investing in people; commitment to inclusion, equity and belonging; serving the needs of the state and local communities; high-impact practices; resources; and identity and reputation building.

In addition to her Higher Education Power List honors, The Daily Record also has named Lepre among Maryland’s Top 100 Women and Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs.

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.